Technical and tactical skill development essential for softball success

Technical skills such as the way a player fields a ground ball, lays down a bunt, throws a fastball, or executes a bent-leg slide has a big effect on the outcome of a game. But softball players need to know more than just how to play the game technically, they need to know how to choose the tactics necessary to achieve success.

Catching is one of the easiest skills for a good softball player and one of the most alarming for a beginning player. A ball thrown at you can be unnerving if you don’t have confidence in your catching abilities. Learning how to catch doesn’t take long, however, and players should learn good habits from the beginning.

Coaching Softball Technical and Tactical Skills goes beyond technical skills such as catching and hitting to the tactical skills that will help your players make smart in-game decisions that build a winning team. Endorsed by the American Fastpitch Coaches Association, this is the resource for coaching softball at the high school level.

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Product Description

Unlike other softball instruction books, Coaching Softball Technical and Tactical Skills goes beyond teaching the technical basics and focuses on skills such as in-game decision making and detecting the strengths and weaknesses of opponents—the tactical skills—to prepare players for game day.

This text is written by the American Sport Education Program (ASEP), the nation’s leading sport education provider, in conjunction with content experts Kirk Walker and Mona Stevens and endorsement from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA), the premier national organization for fastpitch softball.

Coaching Softball Technical and Tactical Skills features cues to help you teach your athletes the fundamental technical and tactical skills, over 175 photos depicting the appropriate techniques, and examples of season and practice plans to help you prepare for games. Skills are organized and cross-referenced so you can see how they relate to each other.

Part V: Game CoachingChapter 9: Preparing for GamesChapter 10: During and After the Game

Audiences

A reference for high school softball coaches, club and college softball coaches, and coaching instructors needing to teach the basic skills and techniques of softball.

Coaching Softball Technical and Tactical Skills is written by the American Sport Education Program (ASEP) in conjunction with softball coaching legends Kirk Walker and Mona Stevens.

ASEP has been developing and delivering coaching education courses and resources since 1981. As the nation's leading sport education provider, ASEP works with national, state, and local sport organizations to develop educational programs for coaches, officials, administrators, and parents. These programs incorporate ASEP's philosophy of “Athletes first, winning second.”

Contributing author Kirk Walker drastically improved the Oregon State softball program when he became head coach in 1994. Walker has become Oregon State's all-time winningest softball coach with a 462-347-3 career record. Each season his team has improved—they've had eight seasons of winning 40-plus games. In 2005 Walker earned his second Pacific-10 Conference Coach of the Year Award after winning the Pac-10 title for the first time. Walker also coached in the Amateur Softball Association, where he led his team to four consecutive women's major fastpitch national titles. Currently he is coaching in the Pro Fastpitch Xtreme Tour. He also edited and contributed to The Softball Drill Book (Human Kinetics, 2007).

Contributing author Mona Stevens was a University of Utah softball stalwart, coaching from 1996 - 2005. She led her team to three NCAA Tournament appearances, three Mountain West Conference Tournament titles, and one regular-season championship. Throughout her coaching career, Stevens amassed a 281-239-1 (.540) record. In addition to coaching at the collegiate level, she has served as a coach for national and international competitions. In 1989 she created Mona Stevens Enterprises, conducting workshops, clinics, and camps for thousands of coaches and players annually. Stevens is the author of The Fastpitch Softball Drill Book: A Coaches' Guide to Common Problems and Corrections. She also coauthored the Softball Coaching Bible (Human Kinetics, 2002).